Chapter 208: THE PREDATOR'S AURA
The distant monsters, at the boss's final roar, had turned back once more. The battlefield had plunged into another storm of carnage.
On one side, an ice spear shot forth, piercing through two goblins and splitting them clean in half. From another, a blazing fireball streaked toward a minotaur, yet the monster dodged it and countered, then pinned the hunter beneath its crushing weight. Elsewhere, a hunter's hammer slammed squarely into an orc's chest, sending the creature flying through the air before it crashed to the ground.
Everywhere, sparks of spells lit the darkness. Steel clashed. Screams echoed, sometimes it was the howls of monsters, sometimes the agonized cries of hunters.
The acrid stench of burnt flesh and blood hung heavy in the air. The ground trembled under stampeding monsters, each impact rattling bones. Hunters shouted orders, some defiant, others desperate, their voices drowned beneath the roars of monsters and the thunder of magic exploding all around
And yet… even amidst that brutal chaos, countless eyes kept stealing glances toward one place... the fight around the dungeon boss. Especially Gideon's party. Luna's worry wasn't even for herself anymore, her heart clenched only for Logan. Lilith, on the other hand, watched keenly, worried that her future sparring partner might get seriously hurt here. And among the other hunters, Gideon, Leo, Leonard, Vanessa, Damian... some eyes burned with hope, while others simmered with envy, or even hate.
And then suddenly, it happened.
They saw him. Logan!
Charging recklessly toward the wyvern, toward that peculiar creature flanked by four monstrous minotaurs that had just arrived.
But what followed was even more shocking.
Logan leapt toward the boss like a blazing shooting star. He twisted, weaving past two weapons in midair, then sprang again, climbing even higher.
"What?! How is that even possible? Is he really just some talented kid… or a monster hiding behind that mask?" Leonard's mind went blank, completely frozen by Logan's latest stunt.
And he wasn't the only one. Everyone who witnessed it was struck with the same thought.
On the wyvern's back, the two remaining minotaurs tightened their grip on their massive hammers.
The instant Logan reached the top, the human-faced creature gave a subtle signal. Both monsters lunged at him at once.
But this time, instead of throwing their hammers together, they attacked in sequence, one after another. Having witnessed Logan's last stunt, they were more alert.
Logan twisted in midair, narrowly dodging the first strike.
But then...
BAM!
The second minotaur was already prepared. Its hammer slammed into Logan's chest with full force.
Blurrgh!
Blood burst from his mouth as his body was hurled backward.
His ribs groaned under the impact, each breath tearing like fire through his chest. Pain lanced through him.
Yet even in that state, Logan reacted instantly. His hands shot behind him, releasing two explosive bursts of air. The recoil blasted him forward like a cannonball, hurling him straight back toward the human-faced creature.
The two minotaurs' expressions shifted. Even with their grotesque, monstrous faces, a flicker of disbelief showed. For the first time, they looked troubled. Even as monsters, they could feel it....
Logan's movements defied reason.
And this time… Logan was ready.
Twin wind bombs materialized in his hands.
The first minotaur had already swung its hammer down.
Logan's right hand snapped forward. One wind bomb shot out like a cannon fire.
Boom!
The explosion clashed against the hammer, tearing it from the monster's grip. The weapon spun wildly into the distant air.
Before the creature could even blink, the second wind bomb had already left Logan's palm.
Boom!
The impact sent the minotaur flying off the wyvern's back, its massive frame tumbling into the chaos below.
The last hammer-wielder roared and swung down. But Logan was already moving. An ice blade materialized in his grasp, gleaming cold and sharp.
Clang!
The hammer smashed into the blade, shattering the ice sword into fragments.
But the minotaur had no chance to react. Logan's right palm pressed lightly against its chest.
In that instant, a massive fireball bloomed into existence, clinging to the monster's body like molten chains.
The creature staggered back, its enormous frame dragged by the blazing force.
And then...
Fwoooosh—BOOM!
The fireball carried the minotaur off the wyvern's back, hurling it far into the distance before detonating in a thunderous explosion.
Down on the ground, Noah and Ali stood frozen, their mouths hanging open.
They were S-class hunters, standing at the very peak of Arcadia's power hierarchy. And yet, in this moment, both of them were dumbstruck.
Seeing Logan recklessly charge forward, the instant they regained their balance, both Ali and Noah had broken into a sprint, chasing after him.
"That boy! What the hell is he thinking?! Did I praise him too much during training?" Ali had cursed under his breath, his face twisting with disbelief.
But then... something unimaginable happened.
So strange that they couldn't tell if it was reality or some kind of hallucination.
Within the blink of an eye, Logan slipped past two of the minotaurs, soared to the top, and brought down the remaining two.
It all happened so fast. So freakishly fast that even they were left dazed. And so were many hunters fighting in the distance, locked in their own life-or-death battles, caught glimpses of the impossible scene...
and every last one of them froze in disbelief.
Sensing the tension above, the wyvern shifted its massive body, trying to throw Logan off its back.
But Logan froze his footing in place, his legs locked firmly against its hide. He did not budge an inch.
The human-faced creature staggered backward, fear twisting its features.
"What… what the hell are you?! You're no human. Don... Don't come any closer!"
Muttering frantically, the creature leapt down in panic, desperate to put distance between itself and Logan.
Logan didn't utter a single word. He didn't need to.
Because the bloodlust radiating from his body, the suffocating aura that clung to him—it was far more terrifying than anything the creature had ever faced.
For some inexplicable reason, its insides quaked violently. Something deep within seemed to recognize that presence. And it screamed with a voice not its own:
"Run. Run from him. The faster, the better."